Opinion: It’s long past time for Apple to fix iCloud Photo sharing for families

iCloud Photos is probably one of the most impressive services that Apple is currently running. It’s built into every iOS, macOS, and tvOS device (and iCloud.com), and Apple has to be syncing billions and billions of photos and videos across its data centers. I’ve been using it since the early beta period of iOS 8, and I am happily (well unhappily) paying $10 per month for 2 TB of storage which includes my 300 GB library. By design, users are supposed to have individual iCloud accounts, but then link them in Family Sharing. Family Sharing allows families to share iCloud Storage (the 200 GB or higher plan) and Apple Music subscription (family plans). I also assume that Apple’s upcoming TV service will also be integrated into Apple’s family sharing set up as well. But for a lot of families, there is still a key section of Apple’s iOS and macOS experience that has not been integrated well into Family Sharing: iCloud Photos. It’s missing an easy way for families to keep their iCloud Photo libraries up to date with each other. more…